Based on the correlational findings, Hypothesis 1 was partially supported, where Latinos'/as' perceived discrimination was significantly and positively correlated with symptoms of anxiety and depression, but not with self-esteem. In Hypotheses 2--5, four culturally protective factors were hypothesized as moderators (buffers) on the relations between perceived discrimination and psychological functioning. These four culturally protective factors were enculturation, ethnic identity, familismo, and acculturation. Based on the hierarchical regression findings, none of the identified protective factors were found as moderators on the relations between perceived discrimination and psychological functioning. The study strengths and limitations as well as practical implications and future research are discussed.

MEXICAN AMERICAN IDENTITY, edited by Martha E. Bemal and Phylis Cancilla Martinelli, is the most outstanding collection of original research and analytical discussion so far published that focuses on Mexican American ethnic identity, an important dimension of ethnicity. This title is critical for educators and policy makers who set policy or make decisions affecting the Latino/Hispanic community for it provides an empirical and cognitive basis for understanding the idiosyncratic characteristics of this group as a unique culture and vis-à-vis the larger social context. Qui ego sum? 'Who am I? and Qui tu es? Who are you? are basic human inquiries. This book discusses and sheds light on the underlying dynamics determining and shaping identity and self-image of the Mexican American as an individual and a social group. This anthology is comprised of ten essays, whose topics range from historical analysis of Mexican American identity; society's views of Mexican Americans and how these images and perceptions influence ethnic identity; the identity of Mexican American women, young children, adolescents. It also includes discussions of the political and policy impacts of Mexican American identity in cross-cultural and Anglo American, and dominant group settings. This collection of essays places Mexican American ethnic identity in a broad context beyond the borders of the United States an into an earlier time frame. Ethnic identity is explored as both a resource for the individual and the group. Other aspects discussed are ethnicity and ethnic identity in Mexico and Mexican America; Mexican immigrant nationalism as an origin of identity for Mexican Americans; in-group perspectives to the broader implications of ethnicity and how the larger society affects Mexican Americans and specifies the links between ethnic identity and public policy; ethnic dimensions of gender and the dilemmas of high achieving Mexican American women. Most highly recommended. Lector.

Studies middle class Mexican American families across three generations and their experiences of racism and assimilation.

This Handbook presents current research on children and youth in ethnic minority families. It reflects the development currently taking place in the field of social sciences research to highlight the positive adaptation of minority children and youth. It offers a succinct synthesis of where the field is and where it needs to go. It brings together an international group of leading researchers, and, in view of globalization and increased migration and immigration, it addresses what aspects of children and youth growing in ethnic minority families are universal across contexts and what aspects are more context-specific. The Handbook examines the individual, family, peers, and neighborhood/policy factors that protect children and promote positive adaptation. It examines the factors that support children’s social integration, psychosocial adaptation, and external functioning. Finally, it looks at the mechanisms that explain why social adaptation occurs.

This book provides broad coverage of the various research approaches that have been used to study the development of ethnic identity in children and adolescents and the transmission of ethnic identity across generations. The authors address topics of acculturation and the development and socialization of ethnic minorities—particularly Mexican-Americans. They stress the roles of social and behavioral scientists in government multicultural policies, and the nature of possible ethnic group responses to such policies for cultural maintenance and adaptation.

"Despite the common perception that most persons of Mexican origin in the U.S are undocumented immigrants or the young children of immigrants, the majority are citizens and have been living in the U.S. for three or more generations. This group initially makes strides on education, English language use, socioeconomic status, intermarriage, residential segregation, and political participation, but progress halts at the second generation as poverty rates remain high, educational attainment declines for the third and fourth generations, and ethnic identity remains generally strong. In these ways, the experience of Mexican Americans differs considerably from previous waves of white European immigrants that were incorporated and assimilated fully into the mainstream within two or three generations. This book examines what ethnicity means and how it is negotiated in the lives of multiple generations of Mexican Americans. Rooted in a large-scale longitudinal and representative survey of 1,500 Mexican Americans living in the West across 35 years, Telles and Sue draw on 72 in-depth interviews to examine individual ethnic strategies and demonstrate that integration is often a process that varies by individual rather than a one-way movement. They detail the myriad ways Mexican Americans understand themselves in relation to their ethnicity, how ethnic identity is often consequential rather than symbolic or optional, that ethnic identity and national identity often co-exist, the meaning of speaking or not speaking Spanish, and their attitudes towards immigration. Telles and Sue are able to show how, when, and why ethnicity matters or does not for multiple generations of Mexican Americans and argue their experiences lie somewhere between Mexican and American."--

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.